Addresses:

Career

Instructor in radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,
1978–79, assistant professor of radiology, 1979–81,
associate professor, 1985–92, professor, 1992–2002; also
served as vice dean for clinical affairs, 1996–99, chair of
radiology department, 1996–2002, vice dean for research,
1999–2000, and executive vice dean, 2000–2002; appointed
director of the National Institutes of Health by United States President
George W. Bush, 2002.

Sidelights

An unexpected presidential appointment gave Maryland radiologist and
researcher Elias A. Zerhouni the directorship of the National Institutes
of Health (NIH) in 2002. As head of the immense governmental agency,
which conducts and funds research in medicine and the life sciences, the
Algerian–born physician was one of a handful of Muslim
Arab–Americans in the administration of President George W. Bush.
"There is a clear belief in the Koran that through knowledge you
can improve not just medicine, but the lot of man," Zerhouni
reflected

Elias A. Zerhouni

in a statement that appeared on a website devoted to Muslims in
America. "My work in medicine and at NIH is profoundly connected
to my belief in Islam."

Born in 1951, Zerhouni is a native of the Algerian city of Nedroma, and
was a competitive swimmer during his teens. In addition to Arabic, he
also speaks French fluently—a legacy of the North African
land's colonial history—and learned English as well. When
he completed his medical studies at the University of Algiers, he
applied for and won residency at Johns Hopkins University, considered
one of the leading medical and teaching facilities in the United States.

Zerhouni arrived in the United States in 1975, bringing his wife, Nadia,
and just $300 with him. Three years later, he finished his residency in
diagnostic radiology and began teaching at the university as well. He
was at the forefront of important new advances in diagnostic radiology,
gaining expertise in CAT scans (computer axial tomography) and magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI), each of which speeded the diagnostic process
immensely without the need for exploratory surgery. In addition to
teaching, Zerhouni also conducted his own research, developing
techniques and devices that helped radiologists
more accurately assess pulmonary tumors and heart functions.

In 1992, Zerhouni was made a full professor at Johns Hopkins, and
eventually became a vice dean and chair of its radiology department.
Over the next decade, he emerged as a respected administrator at the
school of medicine, creating a strategic plan for research and winning
funds for new and advanced facilities. His efforts attracted the
attention of the White House, which nominated him to become the new
director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in March of 2002. He
was approved by Senate vote on May 2, 2002, and sworn in 18 days later.

The NIH director's office had been vacant for two years. Some
Washington political observers believed that the Bush
Administration's delay in filling the post was linked to finding
a suitable candidate who shared the White House line on embryonic
stem–cell research. Scientists were eager to explore the
possibilities that such cells, which come from human embryos that went
unused in in–vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques, might yield.
These are cells that develop in embryos within the first two weeks of
the life stage, and they provide the building blocks for some of the 200
other cells in the human body. Stem–cell therapies, it is
believed, might bring important advances in the treatment of
spinal–cord injuries, some forms of blindness, diabetes, and
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

Many religious groups, from American conservative Christians to the seat
of the Roman Catholic church at the Vatican, oppose certain aspects of
embryonic stem–cell research. Linking it to human cloning, they
object on the grounds that scientists are attempting to tamper with the
sanctity of human life. Some also believe that unregulated research
might inspire women to undergo IVF procedures, and then sell the
results. In August of 2001, President Bush signed an order that served
as a compromise, in effect, but one that pleased neither side: federal
funding on any future stem–cell research would be limited to
projects that used the 78 existing colonies of stem cells.

The president's appointment of Zerhouni to the NIH post several
months later was also viewed as a compromise. "Dr. Zerhouni
shares my view that human life is precious and should not be exploited
or destroyed for the benefits of others," Bush said, according to
an article by
Virginian Pilot
journalist Liz Szabo. Zerhouni has consistently defended White House
policy on the matter, and noted that confining federally funded research
to the existing lines was adequate for the time being. If scientific
progress was slowed by lack of laboratory resources, he said in late
2003, "I'll be the first to go the president and say we
have reached a point where we need a debate here," the
New York Times
quoted him as saying. Such assertions prompted some to term the doctor
an ideal person for the politically sensitive NIH post. Writing in the
San Francisco Chronicle,
Keay Davidson noted that Zerhouni "has demonstrated a mastery of
Washingtonspeak—the ability to discuss controversial topics
without alienating anyone."

Zerhouni supervises an agency with 27 separate institutes and centers,
such as the National Institute on Aging and the National Cancer
Institute, and which funds more than 2,000 biomedical projects around
the world. It employs 18,000 people and has a Congressionally mandated
budget of $27 billion. In September of 2003, Zerhouni introduced a
"roadmap" for future medical research, a plan designed to
bring together scientists working in molecular biology and clinical
medicine. In an interview with the
New York Times
' Denise Grady two months earlier, Zerhouni had termed
"life sciences the core challenge of the 21st century. For
thousands of years medicine has relied on what? On the fact that you
have a core of people to whom you come when a disease has declared
itself." In the future, he asserted—thanks to advances in
molecular biology—"we're going to have to
understand what I call the subclinical phase of diseases, where the
disease is evolving in you but you feel nothing."

Zerhouni's wife is also a doctor and they are the parents of
three children. He became a naturalized United States citizen in the
early 1980s. In the
New York Times
interview with Grady, he reflected back on his career path that led him
to the prestigious NIH post. "I think America treated me well,
and I think you have to be grateful and have a sense of duty.…
Some people ask me, 'What did you think about this? You're
an immigrant, you're not born here, you've come through
the ranks at Hopkins and then you're picked at N.I.H.' I
say, 'Look, it says more about America than it says about
me.'"